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Microphones in Batumi City Court Deafened during Several Hours

September 19, 2011

Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

Courtrooms in the Batumi City Court are well equipped. However, on September 15 microphones in the second court room did not work during the trial. We tried to clear up the situation with the court chairman Temur Gogokhia but he did not wish to make comments on the fact. The Court’s network administration Sergo Khumarian claims the microphones have never worked in that court room before.

On September 15, Judge Vera Dolidze at the Batumi City Court continued case hearing of the detainees during the protest rally organized by the People’s Assembly on May 21 in Batumi. It was easy to detect that 10 chairs were removed from the courtroom which seats 50 people. Bailiffs refused to explain the fact. After the court-hearing started, it was evident that microphones were switched off in the courtroom.

Relative of one of the accused persons asked the judge to turn on microphones. “Your Excellency, please turn on microphones, we cannot hear anything.” In reply, the judge clarified that microphones did not work and asked the witness to speak louder several times.

The second courtroom of the Batumi City Court is equipped with four small and two large dynamics; the microphones are fixed on both sides of the courtroom and on the judge’s table.

However, on September 15, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, when trial on seven accused persons was on, the microphones and dynamics went wrong. The defense side alleges the equipment was turned off when interrogation of prosecutor’s witnesses – police officers started.

The Human Rights Center called the assistant to the court chairman Inga Putkaradze on the office phone but several minutes later Putkaradze told us the chairman was not going to comment on the fact and suggested to clear up the situation with the press-center of the Supreme Court.

The Human Rights Center called Sergo Khmarian - the network administrator of the Batumi City Court too. “A serviceman will arrive from Tbilisi and repair it. Those microphones have never worked since the moment of installment,” Khumarian claimed.

The Human Rights Center’s representative has attended the trials in the same hall several times but never witnessed any problems with audio-system or microphones.

Head of public and media relation service of the Supreme Court of Georgia Nana Vasadze said: “Microphone is ordinary technical equipment and it can go wrong. It was a little problem. Otherwise I cannot understand why they should have turned it off? If you think they did it on purpose, it is not true. Supposedly, there was some technical problem and it coincided with the court-hearing.”

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